Color-printing press



(No Model.)

- 4 sheets-'sheen 1. H. E. GRANDY. COLOR PRINTING PRESS'.

Patentedot. 1-8, 18 ,2. 1-E l i: I

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

H. E. GRANDY.' A COLOR PRINTING PRESS. No. 484,421. Patented Oct. 18', 1892.

wf- E J'ZI- --5 7753- m l a// lI l n IElE L a J' \2//|TNE55E&: Ism/ENTIRE a/ #,S'M

Mm I Y @W (Ne Medel.) 4 sheetssheet 4` H. E. GRANDY. GoLoR PRINTING PRRss.

No. 484,421. Patented oet. 18, 1882.

FSE.

wwe @We-47 we mmms persas co., wunrumu., msummou, u. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY E. GRANDY, OF SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS.

COLOR-PRINTING PRESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 484,421, dated October 18, 1892. Application filed September 14, 1891. Serial No. 405,632. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern..-

Be it known that I, HENRY E. GRANDY, of Somerville, in the county of Middlesex and Slate of Massachusetts,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Color-Printing Presses, of which the following is a specifcation.

This invention relates to color printing presses, and has for its object to provide certain improved mechanism whereby the application of a distinct color to each of the printing-plates or sections of the cylinder is insured.

The invention consists in the improvements which l will now proceed to describe and claim.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 represents an end elevation of a machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 represents an end elevation of the form-cylinder removed from the frame of the machine. Fig. 3 represents a section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 represents an enlarged section of a portion of the machine on line 4 4,Fig. 1. Fig. 5 represents a section on line 5 5,Fig. 4. Fig. 6 represents an end elevation of a portion of the machine, showing the mechanism for operating the inksupplying roll. v Figs. 7, 8, and 9 represent details of mechanism hereinafter referred to.

The same letters and numerals of reference indicate the same parts in all the igures.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, a represents the supporting-frame of the machine, and b represents the form-cylinder, which is mounted on a shaft b', journaled in bearings on the frame a. The ends of the form-cylinder are provided with a series of ribs c, the main portions of which are concentric with thel shaft b', there being as many ribs c as there are printing-plates d on the periphery of the cylinder. Said printingplates are of segmental form, and each rib c occupies the same segment of the circle that the corresponding printing -plate occupies. The ends of the inner or concave sides of the ribs have inclines 2 2,thus forming rib-cams, the main portions of the sides of which are concentric with the axis of the cylinder between said inclines. The cams are at different distances from the axis of the cylinder and in a uniform plane taken at aright angle to said'axis,

one cam being located near the periphery of the cylinder and each of the others successively nearer the axis thereof, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. ln other words, the plane of the end of the cylinder is of course at a right angle to its axis, and the rib-cams on each end are carried by said cylinder, and are therefore in a uniform plane, thus economizing on the length of the shaft required. Several series or groups of inkingrolls are provided, there being one series or group for each printing-plate d. Each series is preferably composed of four inner rolls ee e c, arranged to bear directly on the corresponding printing-plate, and transferringrolls e e and e3, arranged to apply inkto the rolls e, the transferring-roll e3 being in contact with a supply-roll e2, running in an ink-box f. l have shown the supply roll and ink-reservoir only in Fig. 6; but it will be understood that each series of inkingrolls has a similar or other suitable means for supplying ink, my invention not being limited to this particular arrangement. The supply-roll e2 is positively rotated by means of a worm g, meshing with a Worm-gear g on the shaft of the said roll. Said worm is mounted on the outer section of a iexible shaft composed of two sections G and 7, connected by a gimbal-joint S. The inner section 7 is mounted in fixed bearings 9 9, and has at its inner end a bevel-pinion 10, meshing with a bevel-gear 1l on the cylinder-shaft b. The outer section Gis j onrnaled in a bearing 12 on the ink-box f, and is enabled bythe gimbal-joint S to conform to the position of the ink-box, the position of which with relation to the inking-rollers necessarily differs at different parts of the frame. The worm g is adj ustable lengthwise on the shaft 6, so that it can conform to the position of the worm- Wheel g', said worm being detachably connected with the shaft by a set-screw or otherwise. The rolls e e e e of each series are arranged in pairs and their shafts' are journaled in boxes h h h h,'litted in slots or guides in bars or slides t 1l, each slide carrying two rolls e e. The slides t' are radially arranged with respect to the cylinder, and each is arranged to slide radially toward and from the axis of the cylinder, suitable guides being provided to direct their movements. Said IOD guides are preferably brackets j, aixed to the supporting-frame and projecting into slots v3', Fig. 4, in the slides t'. Each slide is normally pressed outwardly bya spring-ft2, interposed between the inner end of the slide and a fixed bracket 3 on the supporting-frame, the effect of said springs being to hold the inking-rolls away from the periphery of the cylinder, so that they cannot touch the printing-plates d. Each slide 'L' has a roll t4 at its inner end, said rolls being arranged to co-opcrate with the rib-cams c in moving the slides inwardly and causing the inking-rollers to bear on the corresponding printing-plates. It`

will be seen by reference to Fig. l that the slides t' of each series of rolls are of a different length from slides of all the other series, the slides of the first series being very short, while the slides of `each succeeding series are longer than those of the precedingseries, the dierence in the length of the slides' corresponding to the dierences in the positions of the cams c, the slides of each series being arranged so that their rolls 4 will co-operate with one and only one of the cams c. In other words, each cam can operate only once in making a complete revolution, and that only when it reaches the slides of the series of rolls intended to co-operate with it. The outer cam co-operates with the series of rolls having the shortest slides t', while the next cam .co-oper ates with the slides of the next series of rolls, and so on. It will be seen, therefore, that each series of inking-rolls can ink but one printing-plate-namely, the plate occupying the same segment of the circle as the cam that operates said series of rolls. There may be as many printing-plates, cams, and series of rolls as may be desired,each series of rolls having its own distinct color and imparting the same only to the corresponding printingplate. The rolls 4 on the slides t are normally located outside the radius of the inner surfaces of the cams'c, but just Within the radius of the outer ends of the inclines 2 2, so that the advancing end of each incline strikes the rolls 4, belonging to the corresponding series of inking-rolls, and moves said the springs 2 throwing the rolls outwardly after the cam has passed by. The ink-transferring rolls e are journaled in boxes m, t.- ted to move in guides or slots in the slides e (see Fig. 9) in the direction of the length of said slides, the rolls e being therefore radially adjustable. The boxes h 7L in each slide are adjustable obliquely in opposite directions, so that when they are adjusted inwardly the rolls e e will remain in substantially the same relation to the rolls e, screws o being provided to adjust said boxes. The ink-transferring roll e3 is journaled in boxes m', which are titted to slide radially with respect to the cylinder in slots in a yoke n, which is supported by boxes m3 on the outer ends of the shafts of rolls e e', said yoke having slots n n at its ends receiving said boxes. The yoke n may be moved to adjust the roll e3 laterally rolls inwardly,

by means of screws n.2 n2, bearing on the opposite ends of the boxes m3 'm3, and said roll e3 may be adjusted radially by means of screws n3 n3, bearing on the inner and outer ends of the boxes m. By means of this construction the several rolls may be adjusted in their relative position to insure proper contact with each other under all variations of radius due to wear or the substitution of different sizes of rolls.

s' represents the impression-cylinder. which receives sheets of paper from the feed-board s and presents the paper to the printingplates cl, said cylinder being geared to the form-cylinder b and arranged to make as many complete rotations during one rotation of the cylinder b as there are printing-plates on the last-named cylinder. The impression-cylinner s has suitable grippers to grasp the paper, and its general operation is the same as in other cylinder color-printing presses.

I have provided novel devices for raising and depressingtheimpression-cylinder, these being as follows: The shaft s2 of the impression-cylinder is journaled in boxes s3, fitted to slide in guides s4 on the supporting-frame. Said boxes are normally raised to separate the impression-cylinder from the form-cylinder by springs S5. t t represent the members of a toggle-joint, pivoted at their outer ends to the boxes ssand to supports, such as screws t', secured to the frame of the machine. un, represent the members of another togglejoint, arranged at right angles to the members tt, one of the members ubeingpivoted to the meeting ends of the mcmbers't and the other to a support u. u2 represents a rod connected at one end with the meeting ends of thelinks u u and at the other with the swinging end of a crank u8 on a loose stud u, journaled in the supporting-frame, the oiiicc of said crank being simply to prevent loose vibration of the `I IO rod u2. uo represents another rod which connects the rod u2 with a treadleu", which is arranged to be depressed by the operator. It will beseen that the depression of the treadle a7 will, through the rods u and u2, force the members u u into alignment and forcibly depress the impression-cylinder. The described arrangement of devices is such that when the cylinder is once depressed it will remain so until the operator depresses another treadle a4, which is connected by a rod 'w3 with the rod u2 and is arranged so that when its outer end is depressed it will raise the rods ui u2 and thus throw the links u u and t t out of alignment and permit the springs S5 to raise the impression-cylinder. The form-cylinder b is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrows in Figs. l, 2, and 6, and each cam c on reaching the location of the series of inkingrolls arranged to be operated byit draws said series of rolls inwardly and causes them to ink the plate d corresponding to said cam,

each plate being therefore inked once during each rotation of the cylinder b.

to the use of a group I do not limit myself IOO of inking-rolls for each printing-plate, and may use one roll for each plate, the essential part of my invention being the combination, with the cylinder having the described arrangment of rib-cams and printing-plates, of a series of inking mechanisms, each comprising one or more rolls, such as e, and one or more slides or arms, such as i, arranged to c0- operate with one and only one of the cams.

By the term one of said cams I mean, of course, one at one end of the cylinder and the corresponding or companion cam at the opposite end of the cylinder, there being a series of cams at each end. The construction of the inking mechanisms may, however, be variously modified, my invention not being limited to the particular construction here shown.

o represents the fly or delivery cylinder, having gripping-jaws adapted to take the paper from the impression-cylinder and deliver it to the delivery-tapes o', said liy-cylinder being of the ordinary construction and containing nothing new in itself.

By means of the flexible shaft, composed of the sections 6 and '7, which connect the inking-rolls with the cylinder-shaft, the supplyroll e2 may be readily removed for cleansing or repairs, after the section 6 has been swung to one side, without the necessity of removing the entire shaft from its connection with gear 10. Furthermore, the flexible shafts enable the several fountain-rolls to be connected with the shaft of the cylinder more conveniently than if the said connecting-shafts were rigid.

I claim-- 1. In a color-printing press, a cylinder having a series of segmental printing-plates on its periphery and a corresponding series of segmental ribs on its ends, said ribs having cam-shaped ends and located at diierent distances from the axis of the cylinder and in a uniform plane at a right angle to said axis and each occupying the same segment of the circle that the corresponding printing-plate occupies, combined with a series of inking mechanisms corresponding in number to the printing-plates and rib-cams, each inking mechanism being adapted to be operated by one and only one of said rib-cams, as set forth.

2. In a color-printing press, a cylinder having a series of segmental printing-plates on its periphery and a corresponding series of segmental ribs on its ends, said ribs having cam-shaped ends located at different distances from the axis of the cylinder and in a uniform plane at a right angle to said axis, and each occupying the same segment of the circle that the corresponding printing-plate occupies, combined with a series of inking mechanisms corresponding in number to the printing-plates and rib-cams, each inking mechanism vincluding a rollorrolls adapted to apply ink to the periphery of the cylinder and normally held out of contact therewith, and radially-movable slides or arms, each having a projection arranged to co-operate with one and only one of said rib-cams, as set forth.

3. In a color-printing press, a cylinder havinga series of segmental printing-plates on its periphery and a corresponding series of segmental ribs on its ends, said ribs having cam-shaped ends and located at different distances from the axis of the cylinder and in a uniform plane at a right angle to said axis, and each occupying the same segment of the circle that the correspondingprinting-plate occupies, combined with the series of inking mechanisms, each including the slides te', having rolls at their inner ends arranged to cooperate with one of the rib-cams, guides to direct the movement of said slides, the inkin'g-rolls journaled in boxes at the outer ends of said slides, and the springs arranged to force said slides and rolls outwardly, as set forth.

4. 'Ihe combination, with the cylinder and its cams and printing-plates, of the slides t' i, l

having the rolls 4 4, the boxes h h, movable in diagonal guides in lthe outer portions of said slides, the boxes m, movable lengthwise of the slides, the inking-rolls e e, journaled vin the boxes h h, the rolls e', journaled in the boxes m, said rolls c e being adjustable at an angle to the adjustment of the rolls c', and the adjusting-screws for adjusting said rolls, as set forth.

5. The combination of the rolls e e and e', the slides fi, supporting the boxes of said rolls, the boxes 'm3, supported by the shafts of the rolls e', the yoke fn, supported by the boxes 'm3, and the roll e3, journaled in boxes, supported by the yoke fn, as set forth.

6. The combination of the printing-cylinder, a fixed ink-box having an ink-roll e2, suitable inking-rolls arranged to receive ink from the roll e2, and a iiexible shaft arranged to communicate motion from the shaft of the cylinder to the roll c2, as set forth.

7. The combination, with the cylinder b and the impression-cylinder s, mounted in spring-supported boxes, of the toggle-linkst t, engaged with said boxes, the toggle-links uu, engaged with the links t t, the treadles a4 u?, and the rods connecting said treadles with the links u u, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 5th day of September, A. D. 1891.

HENRY E. GRANDY.

lOO

IIO 

